Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

Farms that rely on fuel are running dry as rural distributors face new limits due to spiking demand.

In Central Hawke’s Bay, the Kirk family’s large dry stock farm at Ruakawa has run out of fuel.

The farm, a half-hour’s drive south of Hastings, usually received a monthly delivery of bulk fuel for the 600-hectare site, home to up to 700 bulls and 10,000 lambs at peak.

But co-owner Caroline Kirk said the usual order expected 10 days ago never came.

She said the biggest concern was that the reticulated drinking water system for livestock ran on fuel.

“We ran out of diesel last week and we’ve just run out of unleaded this week,” she said.

“We’re totally reliant on reticulated water from tanks that we pump water to, so there is no back-up really, if we can’t run our pumps, there’s no water.”

Kirk said they were in contact with their rural fuel distributor Fern Energy, which was facing fuel allocation limits from its importers.

Fortunately, they were not feeding out a lot at the moment, she said.

“So yeah, we just have to keep going into town getting 20-litre containers. It seems a bit crazy to be going and burning fuel to go and get more fuel.”

Kirk said she believed primary production would be prioritised, as farming was vital to the economy.

“It would be nice just to know when the fuel truck is arriving and if they could please allocate our rural tankers some fuel so that they can get it delivered to farms, because we need it, yeah, to keep the country going.”

Fuel-hungry farmers being prioritised

Distributor Fern Energy said it was doing its best to prioritise fuel deliveries based on need.

The Ōtautahi-based fuel distributor and storage firm picked up fuel allocated by importers at 11 ports nationwide for its approximately 10,000 primary industry customers nationwide.

Chief executive Chris Gourley said its fuel allocation had been affected by “artificial demand”, driven by panic-buying and stockpiling of fuel as prices soared.

He said it was a complex and challenging situation, as it tried to meet its orders.

“For farmers, if they’ve got no fuel, they can’t work, so it’s really urgent,” Gourley said.

“We have to make decisions around who we think needs that fuel the most. But it’s the same for all distributors.”

Gourley said its teams understood the frequency of farmers’ fuel orders and usage, and assured they were working hard to get to all their primary sector customers.

“We’re looking at which customers are getting close to running out or are dry, and we’re focusing on them first, and we’re working our way through it as best we can.

“Looking at our information around how much fuel that farmer’s used in the past, what time of the season we’re in, and we’re working towards getting to them.”

He said hotspots where allocations were tight included in Hawke’s Bay, but also Nelson, Southland and Christchurch.

“The Hawke’s Bay around Napier has been a real hot spot for us in regards to access to fuel out of out of that port.

“You’ve got Nelson and Southland, in particular… Christchurch is also quite challenged at the moment. It’s moving, it’s dynamic.

“For example, last week, early in the week, Nelson wasn’t too much of an issue, and now it is.”

He recognised it was difficult for farmers in need of fuel, and said while it was not ideal, those in need may have to seek out their own supply from the truck stop or from other distributors.

“Farmers that are in arable or farmers that are harvesting or cutting grass, they need fuel. So they’re the ones that are really starting to use that fuel quite quickly.

“If you’re in that situation where you’ve got no fuel, look for opportunities to potentially fill up the jerry can at the truck stop.”

Panic-buying affecting country’s supply

Gourley urged the public not to panic-buy petrol, as it was having flow-on effects for the rural sector.

“If you don’t need fuel, don’t enter that market and try stockpile fuel., because it just really does generate problems for everybody.

“We’re really trying to all of us, the importers, the distributors, everybody’s trying to balance that fuel.

“We have good supplies coming in, but it’s those spikes when demand lifts, particularly artificial demand, which puts pressure on the network.”

He said calls via Fern’s hotline increased four-fold in the weeks after the war began.

The cost of Brent crude oil rose six percent to US$108.50per barrel overnight, up more than 6 percent.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Accounting software company Xero and artificial intelligence firm Anthropic have announced a multi-year deal to add AI tools to the accounting softward giant’s tools.

Under the deal, Xero will integrate Anthropic’s Claude AI system directly into its platform – and allow Xero customers to use their financial data inside Claude’s interface.

The companies say the aim is to give small businesses and their accountants real-time financial insights they can act on immediately.

Xero chief product and technology officer Diya Jolly said small business owners routinely grappled with questions about tight cashflow and overdue invoices, and the integration with Anthropic was designed to help answer those in seconds.

“To run their business efficiently, small business owners and their accountants and bookkeepers need to be able to answer these questions and act on them in real time, whether using Xero or Claude,” she said.

Xero said the AI tools would reduce the time businesses spend chasing invoices, manually compiling reports, or trying to forecast cashflow, with Claude proactively surfacing insights and recommended actions.

The company also emphasised that the partnership fits within its responsible data-use commitments – with financial information shared between platforms used only for a customer’s session and not used to train Claude’s AI models.

Jolly said integrating Claude moves Xero further into “agentic workflows”, with its AI assistant JAX (Just Ask Xero) helping predict cashflow gaps and carry out more complex financial tasks on behalf of users.

Anthropic managing director for international Chris Ciauri said the tools would give small businesses access to the kind of financial intelligence that previously would have required a dedicated analyst or chief financial officer.

“Instead of spending hours making sense of their financials on top of everything else it takes to run a business, customers get clear answers and recommended actions in real time,” he said.

Xero and Anthropic expect to roll out the new Claude features in the coming months.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Retailer The Warehouse has reported an improved first half net profit despite tough trading conditions.

The retailer, which operated Red Sheds, Noel Leeming and Stationery, said net profit for the six months ended 1 February rose by third on the year earlier, though revenue was little changed.

Chair John Journee said there was clear evidence the group was on the right path, though trading conditions were challenging.

“There is still more to do to restore sustainable returns, and this will take time,” he said, adding work was underway to reinstate dividend payouts to shareholders.

Key numbers for the six months ended 1 February compared with a year ago:

• Net profit $15.7m $11.8m
• Revenue $1.612b vs $1.61b
• Underlying profit $26.9 vs $19.5m
• Gross margin 32.3 percent vs 32.5 percent
• Interim dividend NIL vs NIL

Chief executive Mark Stirton said were encouraging signs improvements were resonating with customers.

“We are seeing customers respond as we get the basics right and deliver clearer value through better ranges and a stronger experience in stores,” Stirton said.

“Our Black Friday, Christmas and Back to School events performed well across the half, while severe weather events in January impacted retail spending overall and affected summer seasonal and outdoor categories at The Warehouse.”

Warehouse Stationery and Noel Leeming saw improved gross profit margins, while the Red Sheds continued to face margin pressure.

“Group gross profit margin declined in the first quarter, driven largely by The Warehouse, where we deliberately cleared aged and seasonal stock, saw softer sales in higher-margin categories, and faced freight pressures. Positively, gross profit margin momentum grew in the second quarter, up 30 basis points, and the quality of sales improved,” Stirton said.

Brand sales for the six months ended 1 February

• Red Shed sales up 0.5 percent to $949.5m – same store sales up 1.2 percent
• Stationery sales up 5.7 percent to $116.1m – same store sales up 1.8 percent
• Noel Leeming sales down 1.2 percent to $542.2m – same store sales down 1.3 percent

The company’s recent changes to operations were aimed at cutting the cost of doing business to less than 31 percent of sales, though would see about 270 head office jobs disappear.

Stirton said disciplined cost control was a key driver of the improved result, with operating profit increasing 38 percent.

Expansion

He said the Group will open new The Warehouse and Noel Leeming stores in Mangawhai in mid-2027 – the first new The Warehouse store since 2023.

“Mangawhai has evolved from a seasonal holiday destination into a growing year-round community. Opening new stores allows us to employ locally and better serve a community that is expanding.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand